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A low years ago the writer of 1 hibtt rtifle held I In* customary opinion.1 the ordinary bourgeois in rci^irdI othe I. W. W. organization and itsmembers. Rough necku, law breakers, trouble makers and anarchist*, |etc. While 1 conceded the member* of that organization had a real and well founded grievance against the employing class, still they were employing hull headed, malicious and villianous tactics in fighting those evils and to join that organization would Ik* like jumping from the fry mg pan into the fire, or choosing the greater for the lesser evil, flow that idea has been gradually dissipated from my mind and how a better and more rational idea has taken its place, will be the purpose of this article stated as briefly as possible. I have long konwn of the hard conditions under which the lumber jacks of this country have been working. The hard board and filty straw bunks, the long hours of work at one of the hardest and most dan-eroiJB occupations in the world, unsanitary camps crowded to their fullest capacity, cook houses and food which would put to shame a bunch of Digger Indians, and the terrible all around conditions under which the timber workers had to contend with from one year’s end to another. Under these conditions something had to happen, It was enevltable. So along comes the I. W. W. organization in the form of delegates. What these men had to contend with from the start, the sacrifices they had to make, the abuse and calumny they had toany one short of a genius. But through it. all they had hut one thing to say and that was, workers ' the world organize and unite in Ini: union. The big lumber and bankers, the petty bour-oinrsH element, followed and. then tick-spittio satellites, -Mil* idized press and pulpit,lt; i tiid villified them, and hatch-lt;i iif every foul lie their evil minds could conceive of, but through it all they stayed on the job and organized their fellow workers. They had to pass through the Everett massacre, the midnight lynching—they graced with their presence every jail, rock-pile and bull-pen in the Northwest. They have had to run the gaunlet with bared, bleeding bodies while drunken thugs and hired hoodlums have beaten on their naked skins with whips and leaded clubs, yet through it all they emerged with this message still on their Irps to their fellow working men—UNITE. Not revenge, but the light of a great principle is shining in their eyes. With heads erect and with determination written In every line of their faces, they are moving in solid formation to the consumation of that purpose. Now, in regard to the individual members, the rank and file of that organization. During this strike I have come in contact with hundreds of I. W. W. members. I have yet to see a single one of them under the influence of liquor, disorderly or violating the law in any way. I have heard them preach a doctrine of non-resistence strangely similar to the same doctrint taught by the Man of Gallilee two thousand years ago. I have seen them go to jail with a smile on their face and emerge with no bitterness or rancor in their hearts, but more determined than ever to organize their class in one Big Union. ft is the unconquerable spirit which cannot be crushed but emerges from every contest strong-ers than it was before. I can see a great change coming over the people in their attitude towards this organization. While they once feared and hated it—the more intelligent now respect and to a certain extent admire it. The reaction has set in. The kept press with its lies and foul abuse has had its dirty day. | Our citizens see hundreds of these j maligned lumber jacks in their : midst. Heads up, sober, well manner ed and law abiding working men who pay for every thing they get and attend strictly to their our business—who after such an object lesson as this could ever again believe the filtly lies of a soiled and pros j tituted press? An organization permeated w’ith t^e spirit of in- j dividual self sacrifice for the com- j mon good of its class cannot help but gain friends on every side and grow in strength as time rolls on. It is the spirit which animates the I path finder anti torch bearer of lib- i erty in every age of the world. It i is unconquerable. All hail to our modern crusaders — the Industrial Workers of the World of 1917. |BERT GODDARD. WORKERS, ACT NOW!Block of (). C. (now Southern R. R.) Grant Land in Southern Oregon opening for settlement and sale in earlj spring; General description of lands; Climate; Soils; Crops; Rainfall and General Culture; Location Nos. of all Lands. Fees $1.00. Louis H. Bergold, Roseburg, Oregon. ; -X■ vEditor’s Note—This is a reliable proposition; and you will receive WtMfe ftlt your money. IW - _ ...............
Newspaper Details
Everett Cooperative News
Everett, Washington, US
Thu, Jan 10, 1918
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Elijah B.
NA, 03 Dec 2019
Other Publications Near Everett, Washington
Everett Washington Socialist
Everett Northwest Worker
Everett Labor Journal
Everett Cooperative News
Everett Commonwealth
